Switching on and Off: Rethinking Partisan Selective Exposure

22 Pages Posted: 8 Mar 2018

See all articles by Eunji Kim

Eunji Kim

Vanderbilt University

Jin Woo Kim

Dartmouth College, Program in Quantitative Social Science

Date Written: February 28, 2018

Abstract

Despite concern that selective exposure to congenial sources drives partisans to disagree about even purely factual matters, existing empirical research finds little to mixed evidence that most Americans do seek out like-minded sources of information. In this paper, we suggest an alternative conceptualization of selective exposure; people choose when to pay attention to politics, instead of which ideological sources to follow, such that they avoid politics altogether in the times when they anticipate unpleasant information. We argue that presidential performance shapes such expectations, which would, in turn, create divergent overtime ebbs and flows in the levels of political engagement across partisan groups. Drawing on two multi-wave survey datasets, we find partisans display a lower level of political interest and media consumption during a politically disappointing period. Our findings suggest that that the stream of information that Democrats receive in the long run can be different from Republicans, even if partisans follow mostly central news sources.

Suggested Citation

Kim, Eunji and Kim, Jin Woo, Switching on and Off: Rethinking Partisan Selective Exposure (February 28, 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3132021 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3132021

Eunji Kim

Vanderbilt University ( email )

2301 Vanderbilt Place
Nashville, TN 37240
United States

Jin Woo Kim (Contact Author)

Dartmouth College, Program in Quantitative Social Science ( email )

Department of Sociology
Hanover, NH 03755
United States

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